Making home truly livable, lovable
Lodi couple advocates for Heritage District
When Lodi couple Dave and Virginia Marken retired from their careers in the Bay Area about three years ago, they felt Lodi was the perfect place to call home.
Instead of purchasing a new upscale home, the Markens opted to purchase a large 1920’s fixer-upper on the east side of town and turned it into a stunning modern with traditional touches. While some may ask why the couple would choose to locate in Lodi’s Eastside, the Markens ask “why not?”
They say their previous home in San Francisco was once drug-ridden and dilapidated, but they cleaned it up and made it theirs in hopes that others around them would follow suit — and they did.
The Markens decided they would bring that same mentality to Lodi. They believe in improving Lodi one house at a time, one block at a time and one community at a time.
“The area is changing,” Dave Marken said Tuesday morning at the home on East Oak Street. “Is there crime and are there gangs? Yes, but it is way less than it was 10 or 20 years ago.”
For the Markens, it’s all about changing the perception about the other side of the tracks. For example, they point out that crime isn’t just confined to the east side of the city.
“A team is only as good as its weakest link, so if in fact people say ‘oh, the Heritage District or the other side of the tracks is terrible,’ then we’re collectively as a city only as good as that,” Marken said. “When people come into Lodi, most of them come down (Highway) 99 and come into town this way, so what do they see? What do they experience?”
Words are very powerful, so when people say Eastside it has negative connotation, Marken said. He said that is why there has been an effort to refer to the east side as the Heritage District, which once was the premiere area of Lodi.
“As good as it was,” he said. “It has turned over the years, and it may not get back to its absolute glory when it was first built, but we believe the Heritage District has a great potential and can bring up the entire City of Lodi. That’s why we moved here. We are glad to be here. We want to continue to be a part of Lodi and Lodi improvement.”
Marken said the level of community involvement makes Lodi a special place and that’s just another reason why he and his wife wanted to retire here.
“We are very happy to be a part of the collective resurgence of Lodi as a city,” he said.
With Virginia’s relatives having resided in the area for more than 75 years, the two have deep roots and a vested interest in seeing the city prosper.
“We really do love it here,” Virginia Marken said. “I have loved coming here ever since when I was a kid. Having been born and raised in San Francisco. I love coming to a place that’s not as congested. I like seeing the trees. I love the vineyards. We love the wine industry, Lo-
“... we believe the Heritage District has a great potential and can bring up the entire City of Lodi. That’s why we moved here. We are glad to be here. We want to continue to be a part of Lodi and Lodi improvement.” DAVE MARKEN HERITAGE DISTRICT ADVOCATE
di Lake and the World of Wonders. We love the ease of going to Sacramento Airport and we love that there is a train station right out there.”
As a former nurse anesthetist and Army reservist, Virginia said for she and her husband, a former school superintendent, service plays a critical role in their lives.
“Everyone has a decision to make. They can either stand on the sidelines and complain about the school, complain about the city, complain about the community, or they can make a conscious decision to bring about change,” Dave Marken said.